Barbara Broadcast (VCA) Review

Reviewed by Corey Thomas  on  12/7/2015

"Barbara Broadcast" is one of four Henry Paris (Radley Metzger) films to be released on VCA's collector's series edition in the early 2000's. In recent years, official uncut director approved editions have been released, which I certainly recommend checking out if you are interested in seeing these films the way they are intended, but these original, if primitive releases, have their points of interest too.
While "The Opening of Misty Beethoven" has the recognition of being Radley Metzger's all around best film, "Barbara Broadcast" is by far his funniest (not "Naked Came the Stranger" as Jim Holliday claims). While not big on plot, "Barbara Broadcast" is more of a premise of a reporter interviewing a prostitute turned writer and the funny sexual situations that take place.
Annette Haven plays Barbara and C.J. Laing plays Roberta, the reporter. Bobby Astyr plays an oversexed waiter, who has to endure getting a blowjob everytime a waitress drops a dish (which occurs much too often here). Shirley Peters (one of the few black actresses in porn at the time) plays Joyce, Barbara's friend, who meets with them briefly. In one of the more bizarre sequences, waiter Peter Andrews produces a side of dressing for her, which she declines, stating it is her "binge food". The dialogue here is quite witty. In another sequence, another diner (Suzanne McBain) asks if she can blow their waiter, to which Roberta gladly helps. During the scene, she is asked if she wants a drink. She replies, "No alcohol, but I'll have a Shirley Temple".
In one of the film's more infamous scenes, after Barbara has to leave to meet with a client, Roberta wanders in the kitchen and makes eye contact with the hunky cook (Wade Nichols). She then prepares to go over to a pot to pee (which we don't see, but hear, somehow makes it more erotic in the process) and then in the immortal words of Jim Holliday " buttfucks the shit out of her".
We now enter the second part of the film, which takes place at a disco party of sorts with two men armwrestling (apparently throughout the rest of the film). Barbara meets up with Roberta and they share a joint, which apparently relaxes (and arouses) both of them. They share a rendezvous with a faceless stranger, who turns out to be Jamie Gillis (who contributes to the film's commentary track as well). The scene is really an excuse to showcase a scene between him and Constance Money, that was really just excised s&m footage from "The Opening of Misty Beethoven" that oddly seems out of place here. Due to "prior restraint" as well, all hardcore footage is cut from this scene. And that's about it.
As I said, there's not much of a plot here, but it is a fun, witty, and charming film. Production values are top rate, as is the music ("The Blue Danute Waltz" is prominently featured in the film and oddly enough also the theme from "The People's Court"). The video quality (obviously taken from a VHS source) leaves much to be desired, but audio is sharp, even if the music outplays the dialogue sometimes.
The extras (as in the other VCA Henry Paris titles) are solid with a running commentary by Jamie Gillis and Gloria Leonard. Leonard doesn't even appear in the film, but they both offer many insights into the Golden Age. Sadly, both of these stars from yesteryear have passed, so this commentary is even more meaningful now (I purchased the DVD primarily for this commentary as it is not featured on the new release of the movie and VCA has now discontinued this title as well). There are also comments from Jim Holliday, a Hall of Fame gallery (narrated by Holliday), and publicity stills from the film. While not great features by any means, the commentary is engrossing and definitely worth listening to. I still recommend getting the 2-disc version from Distribpix if you want to see the definitive version of the movie, but this is definitely worth watching for historic value too.